The Big Goal

Perseverance sucks. I’d love to be able to tell stories of how I have walked into the classroom and started transforming my students lives. But the fact of the matter is I’m not yet a great teacher. I’m perhaps scraping in as just being a good teacher. One of the difficulties of being part of the Teach for Australia program is that there is definitely a high level of expectation around the impact we’ll all have on the schools we enter. Part of that comes from the system, and partly from ourselves. So to think about the gap between where I’ve almost expected myself to be, and where I am as an educator can be a depressing thing.

But one thing I know. I’m a better teacher this week than I was a week ago. And the teacher I was a week ago beats the daylights out of the teacher two or three weeks before that. And I know that there is a tonne more stuff that I want to know than there is stuff that I already know. So while the big goal of becoming a genuinely great teacher is still a long way off – I can see the path that gets me there. It’s long, and it looks like it’ll probably beat me up along the way, but I can see where it goes.

So as I was saying, perseverance sucks 🙂

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2 thoughts on “The Big Goal”

The beginning is always difficult. You’re a better teacher than you were last week, and getting better every week. The things that you express here indicate that you will continue to get better and better. Ask for help. Develop a great PLN on twitter. Reflect. Practice makes perfect 🙂 Tell this wonderful blogging alliance what we can do to help you!

I agree, it does suck. It often isn’t fun, beats you up and drags you over the coals. But you are getting better. And often you won’t know just what a fabulous job you really are doing and the impact that you are making until years later. You will get better, it will get easier and harder. I don’t know of any teacher who believes that they have arrived as a teacher. Good teachers are constantly growing and adjusting and changing…when that stops, it is time to get out! For now, you are right where you should be. You are an excellent teacher because you know that there is more to know, more that you want to change and get better at. Remember that you have an A team here ready to jump in and help out with anything!